COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The championship hopes were dashed by mid-morning. Northeast Ohio will just have to wait another year to bring home some boys state tennis titles as all four entries, three singles and a doubles team, were stymied at the state tournament Saturday morning at Ohio State's Stickney Tennis Center.
Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy doubles player Will Konstan gets a congratulatory kiss from his mom, Margaret, following the team's third-place Division II finish at the Ohio High School state tennis tournament in Columbus.
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(Courtesy ImpactActionPhoto.com)
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The championship hopes were dashed by mid-morning.
Northeast Ohio will just have to wait another year to bring home some boys state tennis titles as all four entries, three singles and a doubles team, were stymied at the state tournament Saturday morning at Ohio State's Stickney Tennis Center.
Westlake's Colton Buffington and Ethan Dunbar of Cloverleaf in Division I, along with Alex Aleman of Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy in Division II, lost straight set matches. The CVCA duo of Lou and Will Konstan lost in three sets to Gahanna Columbus Academy, but managed to come back in the afternoon to earn a third-place finish.
Buffington, a sophomore, went up, 3-0, on sophomore Zack Mueck from Liberty Township Lakota East. But after losing, 6-4, 6-2, he had his head in his hands as Mueck looked to the next court to watch the finish of Dunbar and Kevin Metka.
"I went up 3-0 at the start and I tried doing too many things that turned into a lot of mistakes for me," said Buffington, who lost in the first round a year ago. "Zack's a good player and he definitely forced a lot of errors. But I feel I beat myself more than I should have.
"I learned a lot. Everybody is pretty equal here. Three or four points can change a whole match."
That was definitely the case with Dunbar vs. Metka.
Coming in at 35-0, Dunbar's serve was broken on the match's first game as Metka, a senior from Wothington Kilbourne, held the rest of the way for the 6-4 win. Both continued on serve in the next set before Metka went up, 5-1, in the tiebreaker and eventually won it, 7-3. Metka went on to win the Division I title.
It was a bitter disappointment for Dunbar, who was seeking to become his school's first state titleist, and he did not hide it as he talked in a solemn manner.
"I didn't play my game," said Dunbar, who is headed to the University of Richmond. "Certainly, he played well. He served well and I didn't return well at all. I didn't serve well that first game."
Keith Dunbar, a former professional tennis coach, said his son will recover from the loss.
"He'll be fine," he said. "He played well. One break, that's all it takes. He was always playing from a little bit behind.
In a rematch of last week's Oberlin district final, Buffington earned some solace as he turned the tables on Dunbar (6-4, 6-3) to earn third place.
In Division II singles, Aleman could only swat away junior Chris Diaz's winning drop shot that completed a 6-1, 6-0 victory against the CVCA junior. At least Aleman's pain lasted only 38 minutes.
"He just played ridiculous," said Aleman, who has lost to Diaz five times over the years. "I thought I could give him a close match. It's not really fun."
Diaz went on to triumph against defending champion Joey Fritz.
In a rematch from last week's Canton District, junior Colin Bernier from Canton Central Catholic denied Aleman third place as he prevailed in a marathon affair, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2.
A member of last year's CVCA state doubles championship team, Aleman had to watch as his former partner, Lou Konstan, played with younger brother, Will, in their match against Gahanna Columbus Academy. CVCA won the first set, 6-4, but dropped the next two, 6-3, 6-2.
"They won it," said Lou Konstan, a junior. "They played well and we were not winning the big points. I am disappointed, but we were trying to get to state. So as I look at the big picture, we got there."
Sophomore Will Konstan, who replaced Aleman, said it helps knowing they can return as a doubles team next year.
The Konstan brothers earned some solace in the third-place match as they took care of Toledo Maumee Valley Country Day in straight sets.